Beatriz González was born on November 16, 1938 in Bucaramanga, Santander, Colombia (Andean Region). A Colombian painter, sculptor, critic, curator and art historian.

González is a remarkable painter, critic and art historian who has had her Life’s work featured all over the world. As a young student who loved to learn, during her last year in the university, she was unsure of her career path. She had an interest in architecture, interior design and veterinarian work. That is until she met Juan Antonio Rodas who was a Spanish painter, her professor and also a student of Argentine art critic, writer and historian Marta Traba. Both of who influenced her work and were main supporters in the transition to become an artist. González graduated from their fine arts department in 1962 and in this, where she began her career as an artist.

She grew up in Colombia in the 1940’s and 50’s where the country was plagued with violence and warfare due to social and political injustice known as “La Violencia.” This nurtured its way into her understanding of Colombia society that led to her artistic style.

Gonzalez’s most well known works are “The Sisga Suicides I, II and III, 1965.” González appropriated a photo shown in a local newspaper where it displayed it the smiling faces of a deeply religious couple who committed joint suicide in order to acquit the woman’s sin. The reason for the I,II, and III is that similar but different versions of the couple who are painted. Each uniquely differ by the use of color and attention to detail that is telling a story. This piece marked her transition from traditional “fine art” painting to the ‘Pop Art’ movement.

In later years, she would go on to create the “Interior Decoration (Decoración de Interiores) 1981” which was one of her more political pieces. At the time, González recreated this portrait of the president Julio César Turbay at a private cocktail party. The figures are seen having a good time with their champagne at hand, smiles all around their faces and the color scheme of green, orange and brown. She chose this private matter to show the people of Colombia the worries of the president during a time of “violence perpetrated by his government, which included arbitrary detentions and torture.” It was to mock and show people the reality of Colombia does not affect all and government has the power to keep things censored.

“I wanted the public to call into question the presidents and what Colombia represented, how presidents used power.”

(Madeline Murphy Turner, The Marica and Jan Vilcek Fellow, The Cisneros Research Institute for the Study of Art from Latin America, The Museum of Modern Art, New York)

In the Radical Acts exhibition located in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, one can walk around explore the art’s potential for progressive impact and change. Gonzales is often associated with the “Pop Art Movement” that has presented a challenge to the traditions of fine art including the use of imagery in popular and mass culture. Some examples used today are seen in comic books, food products and advertisements. She would put her work up in the public eye and loved to be called the transgressive artist.

In an interview conducted by Tate a British and international modern and contemporary art website, asked González about the “pop art” seen in other parts of the world, she stated:

During the 1960s I wasn’t aware of it. In the art history classes taught by Marta Traba the furthest we got was abstract expressionism. In 1961 we went with her on a trip to New York. There we visited MoMA and we saw mostly abstract expressionist works, with Jackson Pollock above all. Pop was mentioned at the time but with little enthusiasm. Thinking about it perhaps I knew pop, but I didn’t like it. I remember seeing in the Latin American edition of Life magazine a critique of Claes Oldenburg’s kitchens, but this didn’t catch my attention. Again, in 1966 in Amsterdam I visited the Stedelijk Museum where I came across Robert Indiana’s numbers and some works by Tom Wesselmann but they were unrelated and extraneous to my painting. I considered them very distant from what I was doing in painting.

(Interview with Tate, 2015)

She is a woman who has learned various forms of culture and display’s it in her artwork. An artist who has been ahead of her time, her theme in artwork is abstract. It makes the viewer think critically. When looking at her pieces, one can form an idea and make a connection to hidden subliminal messages like Zócalo de la comedia and Zócalo de la tragedia both in 1983. Take a look and you be the judge. At times, it can be viewed as occurrence of society that depicts the harsh reality of different social class still seen today. Her art reflects time of the past and present.

Work cited:

“Artist Interview: Beatriz González.” Https://Www.Tate.Org.Uk/, Sept. 2015, www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/ey-exhibition-world-goes-pop/artist-interview/beatriz-gonzalez.

Banrepcultural. “Tour Guiado Por La Exposición Beatriz Gonzalez: Una Retrospectiva.” YouTube, 14 Nov. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3x6ukGGkkg&ab_channel=Banrepcultural.

Banrepcultural. “Zócalo of tragedy” 1983. www.banrepcultural.org/coleccion-de-arte/obra/zocalo-de-la-tragedia-ap3608. Accessed 20 Feb. 2021.

“Beatriz Gonzalez.” Google Arts & Culture, artsandculture.google.com/entity/g1237_rwt. Accessed 15 Feb. 2021.

“Beatriz González | MoMA.” The Museum of Modern Art,https://www.moma.org/search/?bucket=3&query=beatriz+Gonz%C3%A1lez Accessed 16 Feb. 2021.

Wikipedia contributors. “Beatriz Gonzalez.” Wikipedia, 9 Feb. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatriz_Gonzalez.

Prepared by Stephanie Cruz